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Word 10 suddenly gets small

I think its Word 2010. I run xp. . I go to do a rush job (of course it only happens on rushes) & create a new document. Its 7 " wide wi small fonts that u would have to be under 21 to read. . I had downloaded a couple of templates from microsoft & another one. I have 2 MS word programs so I switch to the other one. Same thing. The screen is big, ordinary size, but my doc is small as is the template I downloaded. It seems all new docuents come up small. Need to get up early & type it right. Any suggestions? Thx in advance Invent Joy.

Mod Edit: Edited title and content to reflect "Word" rather than "Windows" - Hamluis.

"To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought." ~ Tom Robbins

"Once I knew only darkness and stillness... my life was without past or future... but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living." ~ Helen Keller

I found a solution, sort of, maybe. Click on View. Click on 100%. Makes it full size however, The font is still too small unless your under 21 yrs. I couldn't find the zoom slide. I know I've seen it at times but can't find it now. Is there a way to set up the font size as an all the time default setting? I dont' know if its the program or just my eyes getting old LOL. Thx Invent Joy

"To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought." ~ Tom Robbins

"Once I knew only darkness and stillness... my life was without past or future... but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living." ~ Helen Keller

Hi Donna, That looks exactly right exactly what I need to do. In fact, I'd like to change a whole lot of default settings in word. But, I don't know what's the matter wi me, I can't find the button to get me to that page wi default on it. I hovered everything in the font size group & didn't find the right button. Pls advise & thx 4 ur help

PS while on this subject, I don't know why the defaults seem to change themselves, especially when I'm in a hurry. Then I have a frustrating learning curve when I just need to do a rush document. Does MS have an elf that says Joy's in a hurry let screw up all the defaults right now? Of course on xp & old MS office, there is no support except you guys & thx 4 that. I know I need to upgrade. But I'm holding out for a smart phone that connects to keyboard & does everything a cpu does. They ought to let me design it & at the same time, the world would be a better place if I was running it. dont you think? LOL

Looks like a much better image to use as an example. See the image under 1.. See the red arrow pointing to the little thingy in the lower right hand corner that has a red circle around it? Click on that and the Font window should pop up. You should see the Default in the lower left hand corner.

"To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought." ~ Tom Robbins

"Once I knew only darkness and stillness... my life was without past or future... but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living." ~ Helen Keller

InventJoy, your downloaded templates debacle is a mystery to me? Are you able to provide a link to any of the templates, or the name of the Microsoft download template? It would be easier to see what is taking place so to work on a solution.

The tutorial linked from The University of Wisconsin-Madison provides very clear instructions and detail with how to make changes to the default Normal.dotm template. This action must be done with caution as it does change the Normal.dotm Template that Word is based on. Yes, the changes that are outlined are available, however we need to be very careful what option we choose when using "set as defaults."

I need to interject why we need to be cautious with changing the default settings in Word. When the Normal.dotm Template is changed, it applies for ALL word documents thereafter. There are circumstances where making the change is deliberate and I’ll not get into that.

Reminder, when we install Microsoft Word (version of your choice) all new documents are formatted based on Normal.dotm Template. This file has been formatted with default styles and customizations that become the benchmark for most of the work we do in creating new documents. Everything we find in the ribbon allows to alter and to make changes to the Normal.dotm Template to suit any project we are working on, these changes will remain when we save the document, however these changes do not override the Normal.dotm Template.The next new document returns to the Normal.dotm Template (a “template” we download is not the same as Normal.dotm Template)

If we make changes to the Normal.dotm Template, the only way to revert back to the default, are steps via File Explorer AppData systems file settings for Microsoft Templates.

*****If I click on -> “Set as Default”, and click the radio button ->: “All documents based on the normal.dotm Template,” all the changes I have made in the example will be the “new” default and all new documents will retain the same formatting.*****(Disaster!)

All of the above information that I have shared, is based on my personal experience and training I have used with Microsoft Word 2010 and 2013, current to this date.

Laughing about (quoting IventJoy) Does MS have an elf that says Joy's in a hurry let screw up all the defaults right now?

Erm, I think most everyone who posts about MS issues feels at times there is a MS elf messing with defaults!

I concur that a screenshot would provide a 'visual' of the troubled document, however there is a reason why I made the following request in post #9:

"Are you able to provide a link to any of the templates, or the name of the Microsoft download template? It would be easier to see what is taking place so to work on a solution"

Let me explain: the opportunity to get our hands on the actual template(s) she is struggling with, would allow us the opportunity to download the same templates in Word and to physically get our hands on the underlying formatting difficulties and to find a solution. A screenshot alone will not allow us to do so.

I agree that more visual info would make sense in numerous situations. I don't have privacy issues. I'd be glad to post both if I knew how to take a screen shot & the other visual info. . Pls instruct me. I'm not techi. Step by step at the kindergarten level pls LOL.

Donna, thx for taking the time for detailed post . I've been wondering about dot dotm etc. I need to take some time to study it & ask the meaning of words that I haven't yet learned. I am in the middle of a move right now. from Mexico to San Diego. Talk about stress! As soon as I settle, I want to study & learn more for future.

From what I understand that you said, perhaps when I downloaded the template from microsoft, I changed all the defaults? Is that possible? There was no warnings from MS about doing that.

Thx 4 the elf. I'm glad or not, that I'm not the only one arguing wi an elf. InventJoy

See either of the first two webpages returned by this search for step by step instructions on taking either a full screen shot or a window shot if you don't want the full screen under Windows XP. I like the second one for simplicity, but I prefer the note the first set makes about saving in JPG format rather than PNG format to keep the file size relatively small.

This forum does not allow you to post attachments, but if you wish to send me a private message with your screen shot attached to it I can place it in this thread. You can also place it in this thread yourself if you know how to put an image out on the web and using the little icon that looks like a photo that's to the right of the text formatting controls. But it has to be hosted somewhere to do this and I don't want to get into the logistics of that because it goes well beyond the scope of this conversation.